Hallow's End (October 18 - October 31) Guide

It's that time of the year again--ghosts and goblins, witches and warlocks unite! Hallow's End hits Azeroth today.

Hallow's End is one of my favorite holidays in World of Warcraft. Running from from October 18 - October 31, the holiday invites players to gather candy, wands, food, masks, and even vanity pets from inn keepers all over the in-game world.

Event Changes

While there weren't as many changes in 2012 as there were in 2011, there's a few new things this holiday season.

Much like the Brewfest items had been, all Hallow's End rings (plus the helmet and sword) have been upgraded to ilevel 470 making them pretty useful this time around!

There's one new achievement: Tricks and Treats of Pandaria, which is an achievement for visiting all the Candy Buckets in Pandaria. We have the locations listed at the end of the article.

Tricky Treats Loot

Since last year, gone are the days of trick-or-treating hourly for a chance at an extremely rare mask or a rare vanity item. Instead, the event has been streamlined into a vendor and daily system, very similar to Noblegarden. One vanity pet, Feline Familiar, makes its appearance here on a vendor, for example; meanwhile, old favorites, such as Sinister Squashling are purchasable. There's also Creepy Crate from a short questline and Little Wickerman from vendors which is a fun campfire.

Tricky treats are obtained through dailies and the pumpkins spread throughout inns on the map. You will get two treats for every inn you visit, as a one time only reward, along with a potential for a mask, wand, or other fun holiday item. You then spend the tricky treats at vendors outside of your capital cities.

Vendors and quest-givers are located at special holiday hubs outside of Stormwind and Undercity.

In addition to the playable race masks, there are also four sets based on non-playable races; these masks have buffs. Because they function as buffs, they cost more to purchase and are probably meant items for the player who has nearly everything as a currency sink.

Treats and Goodies!

As we've explained in more detail above, Candy Buckets (in the shape of pumpkins) are nearby the innkeepers of friendly inns. Instead of talking to an innkeeper each hour for a Treat Bag or a Trick disguise, looting each pumpkin will reward players with a Handful of Treats (and sometimes a temporary character disguise, like the Trick debuff). This contains 1-3 Tricky TreatTricky Treats, some candy, and other vanity items. If you don't get lucky with finding rare items in your candy bags, don't worry--the Tricky Treat can be used to purchase them instead. This new system takes the RNG component out of the holiday that many had complained about.

A Crudely Wrapped Gift can be obtained after protecting a low level Alliance (Goldshire, Kharanos, or Azure Watch) or Horde (Razor Hill, Falconwing Square, or Brill) village from the Shade of the Horseman (see Quests section below). The matrons located in these villages will ask for your aid in putting out fires in local buildings. When the Shade of the Horseman has been defeated, a large Jack-o-Lantern will appear on the ground that gives the quest Smash the Pumpkin (Alliance) which can be turned in at the nearby Matron. The Matron will reward you with a sum of gold and a Crudely Wrapped Gift, which can contain candy, masks, or even riding brooms!

The Headless Horseman is a level 90 boss that players can queue up for using the Dungeon Finder tool. The boss will then spawn in the Graveyard of Scarlet Monastery. This encounter can be completed easily by a decently-geared 5-man of level 90 players. For more information check out the section below!

Those candies you get from trick-or-treating changed back last year. They used to be buffs, offering amounts of stacking stats such as spell power with every consumption. However, that's changed.

Visiting all friendly inn buckets on continent will reward an achievement. There is a new one for Pandaria this year, too.

Locations

Check out the related achievements below for a list of all buckets--some locations have changed since the Shattering. We've gotten word that some of these new candy buckets appear to be bugged--as well as others added that aren't tied to achievements--so hopefully this will be fixed.

Quests

Horde Quests

Masked Orphan MatronStart:Orc CommonerEnd:Masked Orphan MatronThis quest is just a breadcrumb quest intended to lead you to a Masked Orphan Matron located at one of the low level Horde villages, either Razor Hill, Falconwing Square, or Brill. This quest does not need to be completed in order to take the Matron's other quests.

Fire TrainingStart & End:Masked Orphan MatronThis quest can be started in either Razor Hill (Durotar), Falconwing Square (Eversong Woods) or Brill (Tirisfal Glades), but only completed once, at a single location. The Matron will direct you to a nearby water barrel from which you can collect Water Bucket that can be thrown at flames. There will be test fires that you can put out by simply 'using' the bucket and aiming at the fires. When you have successfully hit 5 fires, return to the Matron for your reward.

"Let the Fires Come!" / Stop the Fires!Start & End:Masked Orphan MatronThe availability of this daily quest is situational - if the village you are in is not yet under attack by the Shade of the Horseman, the Matron will offer "Let the Fires Come!" which you cannot complete until the village is under attack. However, if you first speak to the Matron while the village is currently under attack, she will instead offer Stop the Fires!, which is the same quest basically with just a different title. Simply aid in extinguishing all of the fires the Shade has started, then speak to the Matron. This is a daily quest.

Hallow's End Treats for Spoops!Start & End:SpoopsThis quest asks that you collect a variety of holiday treats from the innkeepers of major faction cities. However, they won't be giving the goodies away without a price! You must perform a different emote to each innkeeper before being rewarded the quest item.

Stink Bombs Away!Start & End:Candace FenlowSpeak with Crina Fenlow and take a broomstick flight over Stormwind City. Use the stink bombs to cover the city and its people. This quest is a requirement for the achievement Rotten Hallow.Reward:

What Now?Start:Stolen CrateEnd:Edgar Goodwin or Delian SunshadeYou may return the crate to either Edgar Goodwin at the Broken Tusk in Orgrimmar's Valley of Strength. or Return the crate to Delian Sunshade at the Wyvern's Tail in Orgrimmar's Valley of Honor.

The Creepy CrateThe crate itself appears unscathed and suffused with magical energy. From time to time, it shakes or bobs as if its contents were alive.Reward:Creepy Crate

Alliance Quests

Costumed Orphan MatronStart:Human CommonerEnd:Costumed Orphan MatronThis quest is just a breadcrumb quest intended to lead you to a Costumed Orphan Matron located at one of the low level Alliance villages, either Goldshire, Kharanos, or Azure Watch. This quest does not need to be completed in order to take the Matron's other quests.

Fire Brigade PracticeStart & End:Costumed Orphan MatronThis quest can be started in either Goldshire (Elwynn Forest), Kharanos (Dun Morogh), or Azure Watch (Azuremyst Isle), but only completed once, at a single location. The Matron will direct you to a nearby water barrel from which you can collect Water Bucket that can be thrown at flames. There will be test fires that you can put out by simply 'using' the bucket and aiming at the fires. When you have successfully hit 5 fires, return to the Matron for your reward.

"Let the Fires Come!" / Stop the Fires!Start & End:Costumed Orphan MatronThe availability of this daily quest is situational - if the village you are in is not yet under attack by the Shade of the Horseman, the Matron will offer "Let the Fires Come!" which you cannot complete until the village is under attack. However, if you first speak to the Matron while the village is currently under attack, she will instead offer Stop the Fires!, which is the same quest basically with just a different title. Simply aid in extinguishing all of the fires the Shade has started, then speak to the Matron. This is a daily quest.

Hallow's End Treats for Jesper!Start & End:JesperThis quest asks that you collect a variety of holiday treats from the innkeepers of major faction cities. However, they won't be giving the goodies away without a price! You must perform a different emote to each innkeeper before being rewarded the quest item.

The Creepy CrateThe crate itself appears unscathed and suffused with magical energy. From time to time, it shakes or bobs as if its contents were alive.Reward:Creepy Crate

The Headless Horseman

The Headless Horseman is a level 90+ 5-man boss located in the Graveyard of Scarlet Monastery. This boss will only spawn for level 89+ players who have queued for the encounter via the Dungeon Finder tool. The boss drops epic-quality gear, and additional vanity loot can be obtained from a special Loot-Filled Pumpkin awarded once per day for killing him.

Remember, you can queue up for the boss as many times as you like, but you will only have access to his regular drops after the first time--the Loot-Filled Pumpkin and a monetary reward of will only be awarded once per day. Also, you'll be awarded a few Justice Points.

The Loot-Filled Pumpkin can also contain a randomly selected flimsy mask (if no "special" loot is awarded). It is possible to get multiple special items from the bag at the same time.

Achievements

There are a total of 20 achievements that can be obtained during Hallow's End! While running about sporting hauntingly fun Hallow's End masks and gorging on candy, find time to earn some achievements and be awarded a cool player title--the Hallowed!

A Mask for All OccasionsCollect the 24 unique Flimsy Masks listed below.For this achievement, you must obtain every singleFlimsy Mask. This achievement used to be very difficult to complete as it relied upon RNG from Treat Bags. It is also not a requirement for Hallowed Be Thy Name. However, in Cataclysm, players can purchase masks for each--so this achievement is a lot easier to complete.

Check Your HeadUse Weighted Jack-o'-Lanterns to put pumpkin heads on each of the races listed below.For this achievement, you must use a Weighted Jack-o'-Lantern on at least one of every Alliance and Horde race. The Jack-o'-Lanterns can be looted from the Headless Horseman or received in the Crudely Wrapped Gift available after defeating the Headless Horseman in one of the low level villages as detailed above in the Quests section. They are also rewarded from the related daily quest.

G.N.E.R.D. RageEarn 10 honorable kills while under the influence of the G.N.E.R.D. buff. It's a slap in the face!For this achievement, earn 10 honorable kills (total) while buffed by the Hallow's End candy G.N.E.R.D.S.. The candy is a just small dodge buff so the achievement is really just a silly pun.

Out With ItEat so many Tricky Treats that you get an upset tummy.Tricky Treat offer a small speed boost in addition to eventually giving you an Upset Tummy. They are the new currency for Hallow's End and are rewards for completing all quests.

Sinister CallingObtain a Sinister Squashling pet and Hallowed Helm.This used to be one of the most difficult achievements to obtain due to sheer luck factor, for this one you must obtain both the Sinister Squashling vanity pet and the Hallowed Helm off the Headless Horseman. However, you can now buy both items with saved up total.

The MasqueradeGet transformed by the Hallowed Wands listed below.For this achievement, you must be transformed by each specific costume Hallowed Wand. The 'Random' wand will not count towards the achievement. It is best to trade costumes with other players who have the ones you want. Wands can be purchased for .

Trick or Treat!Receive a handful of a candy from one of the Candy Buckets located in an inn.For this achievement, all you have to do is visit a single Candy Bucket located within any friendly inn and loot a handful of candy

Tricks and Treats of Azeroth / Complete the Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms and Outland Tricks and Treats achievements.For this achievement, you must complete each of the three following achievements, essentially having visited every possible Candy Bucket.

Tricks and Treats of Kalimdor / Tricks and Treats of KalimdorVisit the Candy Buckets in Kalimdor.For this achievement, you must visit every single Candy Bucket in Kalimdor. The candy buckets are located in friendly faction inns. For a full list of bucket locations, visit the achievement page for your respective faction.

Tricks and Treats of Outland / Tricks and Treats of OutlandVisit the Candy Buckets in Outland.For this achievement, you must visit every single Candy Bucket in Outland. The candy buckets are located in friendly faction inns. For a full list of bucket locations, visit the achievement page for your respective faction.

Tricks and Treats of Northrend / Tricks and Treats of NorthrendVisit the Candy Buckets in Northrend.For this achievement, you must visit every single Candy Bucket in Northrend. (Players could do so in previous years, but no achievements were attached to it.) The candy buckets are located in friendly faction inns. For a full list of bucket locations, visit the achievement page for your respective faction.

Tricks and Treats of the Cataclysm / Tricks and Treats of the CataclysmVisit the Candy Buckets in Cataclysm zones.For this achievement, you must visit every single Candy Bucket in Cataclysm zones. The candy buckets are located in friendly faction inns. For a full list of bucket locations, visit the achievement page for your respective faction.

Tricks and Treats of Pandaria / Tricks and Treats of PandariaVisit the Candy Buckets in Pandaria.For this achievement, you must visit every single Candy Bucket in Pandaria. The candy buckets are located in friendly faction inns. We got some information on bucket lcoations from our EU friends, and will confirm when it goes live on US servers.

Comments

Comment by matheus314

on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 07:18:29 -0500

So the holiday is live, and I have two characters at the coordinates listed for Zouchin Village in Kun-Lai Summit. One of them quested there and one of them didn't, and neither of them can find a candy bucket.

This. Maybe we'll have some bug fix later on. I hope so.

Comment by Thiron

on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 07:57:43 -0500

You put wrong candies in "Reward"

Comment by ElhonnaDS

on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 08:56:08 -0500

Kind of disappointing. I dont think Blizzard realized that all of these achievements and items can practically be obtained the same year the event happens. It important to update consistently or you lose relevance.

Well they do up the Ilevel of the gear every expac, which is nice. I got my ring this morning during a bout of insomnia. I know it took me 3 or 4 years to farm the mount sucessfully too, so I ran the boss a lot. Last year they added a new quest chain that awarded the Crate pet, and the Feline Familiar, and I don't think there was a vendor for Halloween that sold things for candies before last year, either. That might have been a change from 2 years ago, though.

They also made the pumpkin pets BoE last year, so you could make some extra gold farming the holiday.

Comment by Entropyutd

on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 09:03:16 -0500

Well it's a good thing I maxed my DK. =)

You can run the dungeon at level 89.I was kind of hoping they'd add a tanking ring to the loot table this year. Ah well once I've run my guidies through the event I'll get the dps ring for offspec.

(Already have the mount)

Comment by Interest

on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 11:00:51 -0500

Well it's a good thing I maxed my DK. =)

You can run the dungeon at level 89.I was kind of hoping they'd add a tanking ring to the loot table this year. Ah well once I've run my guidies through the event I'll get the dps ring for offspec.

(Already have the mount)

I know, but I tried running some Direbrew at 89. It was pretty disastrous because everyone else was too (healer couldn't keep tank alive, etc).

Comment by unknownzodiac

on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 11:04:59 -0500

29,1 Honeydew Village wrong28,13 Honeydew Village right

Comment by Iceveiled

on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 11:20:13 -0500

I love this holiday, the atmosphere and all the goodies are just fun, even if there's really nothing left to do after years of doing it.

I just wish that broom mount was permanent. It's so cool!

Comment by IcyFrozen

on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 11:51:59 -0500

Anyone else unable to see the Pearlfin pumpkin? Check the entire village, including the inn.. no pumpkin.

Comment by piekid

on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 11:54:19 -0500

So the holiday is live, and I have two characters at the coordinates listed for Zouchin Village in Kun-Lai Summit. One of them quested there and one of them didn't, and neither of them can find a candy bucket.

Quoting myself to follow up. My toon that quested there didn't completely finish the area. Three of the listed candy bucket objectives seem to be phased until proper questing has been done: both Zouchin Village and Westwind/Eastwind Rest in Kun-Lai and Mistfall Village in the Vale.

Comment by Drainmor

on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 11:58:22 -0500

Kind of Disappointed that their is no new companions or mounts , There's nothing really new at all apart from the achievement :( , But I love Halloween in WoW so I doesn't bother me too much :D Just hope I get the Headless horsemans mount as I want it so so much :D

Comment by rogueMatthias

on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:11:55 -0500

Woah, anyone know where the pictue in the title banner of the Headless Horseman comes from? looks great!

Personally, I love the HH, his history is pretty interesting if you look in to lore and makes me feel for the guy, een if he is completely crazy. Hope one year they add a scenario or two to halloween detailing how he became the HH.

Comment by Drainmor

on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:23:03 -0500

Woah, anyone know where the pictue in the title banner of the Headless Horseman comes from? looks great!

Personally, I love the HH, his history is pretty interesting if you look in to lore and makes me feel for the guy, een if he is completely crazy. Hope one year they add a scenario or two to halloween detailing how he became the HH.

You my friend should submit that to blizzard I think that's an AWESOME idea!

edit: opps, i got helmet from bag thing, i remember that boss used to drop mount, but no luck back in 2008

Comment by TheR0nin

on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:07:00 -0500

There are a couple of typos in the write-up; the one that might be confusing to new readers is "Sadly there seem to be non pandaren masks." Of course, you meant "no pandaren masks".

Thanks again for the write-up! I love to check these each holiday to see what's changed, what's the same. I always have at least one new alt since the previous year, so it's really helpful.

Comment by TheR0nin

on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:08:52 -0500

There are a couple of typos in the write-up; the one that might be confusing to new readers is "Sadly there seem to be non pandaren masks." Of course, you meant "no pandaren masks".

Thanks again for the write-up! I love to check these each holiday to see what's changed, what's the same. I always have at least one new alt since the previous year, so it's really helpful. And the artwork is awesome!

Comment by Mantrhax

on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:24:50 -0500

looks like they did it in a rush for the ocasion....well i never got an helm in all these years, probably ill not get it this year either.this rng is a fake or a trick and treat